How can I evaluate my skills when related to monetary increases?
Not easily
Do the skills I've gained since starting add significant value to my global value?
Not necessarily
That's the pithy answer. The skills you cite are awfully granular and subject to change and very much subject to interpretation.
There are a few occasions where it's known that a very specific skill (usually with an accreditation) is worth a specific known amount of money, because there are very critical and long lasting business drivers that force a certain value to be put on that skill set. A quintessential example is actuaries - who take a series of exams and get an accreditation - there is nearly always a salary bump at each stage and a big bump on final accreditation - it's well known and well understood - largely because the skills are EXTEREMELY high demand and the population capable and willing to learn them is quite finite. And the job is tied to a specific type of industry, and the people doing that job can easily transfer from company to company - so in many ways, it's a commodity.
That's the exception more than the rule. In tech world, skills like you mention are very fluid they are tied to:
- how much does this business need you to have them?
- how hard is it to find someone else with this skill?
- what goes wrong if you don't have the skill?
- how do you rate in productivity compared to others (because of this skill set or otherwise?)
Businesses tend not to tie their ratings of employees too tightly to any specific skill set. They want to be able to review and rank employees in a way that transcends changing technology and changing processes - and most companies want to be able to expect that you'll continue to learn and grow your skill set as part of your job.
Chances are good that they have a vision of an ideal employee at your rank that includes a bundle of capabilities and some general ideas of efficiency. When they figure out raises and promotions, they will look to see who is amazing, good, or bad at their jobs and try to divide the money and the ratings accordingly. Usually...
- Amazing = does everything within the deadlines or faster. With very few mistakes. Finds new and better ways to do things that result in being faster, of higher quality or of bigger scope with less work.
- Good = gets the job done, usually on time, usually with a minimum of errors. May find better ways to do things, but that's not a typical behavior pattern.
- Not good = high in errors, or slow in output, or takes lots of time from others to do what others can do with less help.
How that plays out depends on the job.
Note that skills are just one factor in productivity - working well with others, taking direction from management, applying skills effectively, using good judgement - all these things contribute and can help with getting a good or bad rating.
If the skills you cite (and the work you do) get you into the Amazing range, then you can expect that you'll get a better bonus, or a raise, or even a promotion (or at least you deserve one!). How much better? Within the company, that depends on how much they can give you and how much they are inclined to give you. That's two different values:
how much they can give you - is limited by budget - if the company isn't profitable, they are not in a good position to give raises, promotions or bonuses. Even a great employee will get lousy money in a bad fiscal year.
how much they want to give you - is usually how much they value your role. The same job can have a very different value across companies. In a firm that has mission critical needs for what you do, retaining you and your knowledge of the business may be seen as incredibly important, and when raises and bonuses are considered, your role gets a big percentage of the pool. In a firm that sees that there is no career growth for a role like yours, they may intentionally limit the money budgeted for recognition of your work, because they don't value retaining you. The same exact skills and job can be valued or not valued depending on the company. Even two companies in the same business may see the value of a given role differently depending on their business strategy.
Also be aware that pure pay may not be the only way you are rewarded. If a company sees you as someone who likes learning, and who will step up and use that learning to the benefit of the company, there may be other perks - like educational benefits, mentorship and good growth opportunities. These things eventually translate into additional money, but the payoff can take years.
